River planning is wrapping up for most corridor cities

The majority of Twin Cities communities have completed their draft plans for land use and development along their local riverfront, but a handful are still seeking public comments in the coming months. The summary below provides a snapshot of the communities that are still seeking public involvement. You can also check out FMR's river city plans tracker for more information about and links to all 25 cities and towns in the Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area.

City planning update

The City of St. Paul released their river corridor plan a few weeks ago and is taking comments through the end of next week. There will be a public hearing before the St. Paul Planning Commission on April 19, 2019 at 8:30 a.m. in City Hall, Room 40 to hear public testimony on the draft "Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area Plan." The river corridor plan, along with the other chapters of the city's comprehensive plan, will go to the full city council for approval in May.

River corridor plans for Anoka, Champlin, Mendota and Mendota Heights have been out since last year, and their comment periods close soon. If you wish to add your thoughts or concerns about plans for these cities, we recommend doing it quickly. Anoka is planning a public process this spring to identify public river corridor views in their community.

The most recent plans to come out are by the cities of Dayton, Brooklyn Center and South St. Paul. Brooklyn Center has an active survey aimed at gathering community perspectives on their river corridor plan. Dayton and South St. Paul will be collecting public comments for the next few months.

Need more information?

If you live in one of these cities but aren't sure how to use your voice to help protect and enhance your local riverfront, we can help! Contact Irene Jones, ijones@fmr.org, to get started. Or, learn more on our river planning resource pages.

Additional background and next steps

In 2016, Minnesota formally adopted state rules to protect the outstanding natural, scenic, cultural and recreational resources of the Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area (MRCCA).

Each of the 25 cities and townships along the river corridor now has to update local plans and ordinances to be consistent with the new rules. Once the MRCCA planning process is completed, cities will start updating their MRCCA ordinances in late 2019 and throughout 2020. This is where the rubber meets the road, as they say, so we will need our River Guardians to get involved and ensure the river corridor ordinances are strong and effective.

Please sign up to be a River Guardian. Check the box to tell us that you're interested in river corridor planning and local issues. Then we'll be in touch if there's a specific action you can take to weigh in locally.